public law 49-90 (12. 150)

A joint-session of the US congress is set to convene for what had previously been the unceremonious administrative task of certifying the votes of the Electoral College in some ways will be like the proforma ritual of the past but there are still very present reminders of what occurred at the Capitol four years ago. With no dispute from the losing party, there will be no angry rioters descending on the hall of government, motivated by the unseated president who never conceded the other’s victory and no vandalism and violence to stop the process (unguarded threats and calls of widespread voter fraud hurled by the Republicans throughout the campaign immediately dissipated shortly after polls closed on election day), the grounds have still been put on high alert with temporary fencing and legislation was passed in the immediate aftermath to better codify a framework based on normative behaviour but full of attendant ambiguities and foster the peaceful transition of power. Rejecting an elector’s ballot would require a major vote in both chambers to sustain an objection and explicitly defines the role of the Vice President as President of the Senate as purely magisterial and does not and never did have the authority to overturn the counting, despite what Trump amplified to his supporters, sending a literal lynch mob after Mike Pence (and other public officials). As happened last in 2001 with Gore losing to Bush, Kamala Harris will oversee the certification of the presidential race in favour of her opponent.